Some More Blessings of These Times

While Jimmy has still been working, he had a week off in April (we had a week long trip planned to Arizona....zigzagging across the state, visiting the Grand Canyon and some other national parks as well...of course it was all cancelled), and he is getting home much earlier than he used to prior to the coronavirus. That, combined with the days being longer, means that we have more time together. I feel like Jimmy and I have had more time together the last six to seven weeks than we have had in a long, long time. Thankfully we still like each other! The time really has been a blessing.

Yesterday Clay took Leah, Sam, and Clay's friend, Libby to visit Julie, Big Sam, and Mae about an hour away at a lake house where they are vacationing for a few days. As soon as Leah and Sam finished their schoolwork for the day, they took off. I used my time alone to read outside for an hour, clean out my pool, work on the never ending pile of laundry, and vacuum the basement. When Jimmy got home we went on a very pleasant four mile walk on and around the trails at our local high school. After that we ordered take-out from a new restaurant in our tiny downtown called Old Town Steakhouse and Eatery. This is our second time to order from them (they had just opened before the pandemic hit), and both meals were delicious! We ate at home, just the two of us on our table for ten. I guess that is what it will be like in four years when Sam leaves for college. We seemed small at that big table, alone. Jimmy played some nice music on his speaker to accompany us, and we put our food on real plates instead of just eating out of the styrofoam. Fancy. We ended our date by watching the beginning of a documentary on PBS about George W. Bush. It's two hours long, so it will probably take us 3 more nights to complete! I read a memoir by Laura Bush last year (actually listened to it on Audible, which I recommend because she read it herself, and her voice is so pleasant!), so a lot of the material covered in the show last night I knew all about based on her book. Her book is called Spoken From the Heart, and I recommend it.

The first 41 days of our shelter at home/stay at home/safer at home I cooked all the meals. All the meals. And then, one day after we had worked outside for most the day Jimmy suggested we order take out. What a blessing. I don't mind preparing and serving meals, but I got so excited about this simple pleasure. We ordered chicken and French fries from Abner's, and it was so yummy! Later that same week we ordered our first take out meal from the steakhouse we ordered form last night, and the kids and I kept saying how delicious it was! I was so excited again to have restaurant food! :)  We have since ordered Chick Fil A and ate with Julie's family one night, and that was fun too.

I just keep trying to look on the bright side. Some days are harder than others, but just keep looking. Surely there is a bright side in every situation.